Initiative

Government representatives at both a national and local level are collaborating with entrepreneurs and the University of Adelaide as part of a collective effort to transform Adelaide into a 'smart city'. The initiative is part of an overall program launched by the new Australian Smart Cities Consortium.

The Canadian government has once again reiterated its commitment to the smart city movement by officially launching a new $50m 'Smart City Challenge'. The innovative project has been specifically designed to encourage communities nationwide in the country to leverage new technology.

Dubai has expressed its aspirations to become the next FinTech hub. The city has enjoyed decades of rapid growth - and has developed its infrastructure to become a key business center which has now firmly switched its focus towards the FinTech sector.

French firms SUEZ and Bouygues Construction have announced that they have signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) in a collective bid to accelerate the development of sustainable ‘smart cities' that have circular economic solutions.

Iceland has been forced to deploy new 'fast charging' infrastructure across its capital Reykjavik, following the rapid increase and adoption of electric vehicles in the country. Iceland's government has been aggressively pursuing the electrification in its transport sector, and Icelandic motorists are acutely aware of the benefits of moving away from fossil-fuel powered cars towards clean electric vehicles.

A Japanese community has introduced driverless technology as part of an initiative specifically designed to keep its elderly citizens active and 'on the move'. The rural town of Nishikata, which is located around 115KM from the capital city of Tokyo, has decided to experiment with the autonomous technology in an effort to enable its elderly population to continue participating and being active in community life.

Some of the world's biggest cities have pledged their commitment to protect the environment and rid their cities of harmful fossil fuels by agreeing to deploy zero emissions buses from 2025. Twelve major cities will introduce the environmentally-friendly vehicles to its transportation systems from 2025, in a bid to make major areas of their cities 'fossil fuel free' by 2030.

Nokia has joined 'Smart Tampere', an initiative to introduce smart city services that will foster economic development and improve the daily lives of citizens in Tampere, Finland. Smart Tampere brings together local companies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), local government and citizens to explore how digital technologies can be implemented in areas such as smart mobility, e-health, smart lighting, smart energy, extended user experience and more.

Europe is now beginning to embrace electro-mobility - but one Nordic nation which adopted that stance years ago - and serves as a shining example to other nations as Europe's surge towards mass electric vehicle deployments builds momentum. Norway has been leading the charge and announced its intentions to phase out all fossil fuel-powered vehicles by 2025! However, Norway's modern approach towards electric vehicles isn't an initiative which was launched in the millennial era - no, in fact it started in the early 1990s!

An initiative which has been specifically designed to position the UK as a global leader in the development, deployment and adoption of 5G technology has been backed by the Tory-led coalition government in Westminster.

The CEO of SAP, Bill McDermott has stated that the introduction and subsequent integration of Artificial Intelligence will help accelerate and achieve the ambitious national development goals and objectives of Saudi Vision 2030. In addition to this, McDermott believes AI will serve as the perfect foundation for smart city NEOM which is located in the country's Tabuk region.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has lamented the speed at which the country's 'Smart Nation' project is currently being implemented - and conceded it wasn't moving as fast as was expected. The Prime Minister insisted that it was imperative that solutions are sought quickly in order to resolve the issues currently being encountered by those tasked with the responsibility of launching the initiative.

The oldest city in the world is set to embrace technology that will transform its services in an effort to become a 'smart city'. The city of Varanasi, which is recognized as the holiest site for those who follow Hinduism is located on the Ganges Rivers in Northern India.

The UAE Ministry of Energy has launched an incentive program designed to encourage motorists to buy electric vehicles - as part of the nation's long-term plan for electrification. The incentive program aims to tempt motorists to go electric by introducing zero-carbon emissions electric vehicles through green bank loans, green insurance plans and attractive and affordable prices for electric vehicles.